ARTICLE
31 August 2026

Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Postoperative Hypothermia in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Thoracotomy

Kun Zhu1 Qinhu Zhang1*
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1 Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Xi’an 710068, Shaanxi, China
JCNR 2026 , 10(8), 260–265; https://doi.org/10.26689/JCNR.v10i8.15431
© 2026 by the Author. Licensee: Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty Ltd, Australia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Objective: To explore independent risk factors for postoperative hypothermia and effective management strategies among patients undergoing cardiac thoracotomy. Methods: Clinical data of 206 patients who received cardiac thoracotomy in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of a tertiary‑level hospital between July 2025 and June 2026 were retrospectively collected. Patients were stratified into a normal‑temperature group and a hypothermia group according to the initial core body temperature measured upon admission to the Surgical Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (SCICU). Univariate analysis was performed to identify correlates of postoperative hypothermia, followed by multivariate Logistic regression to determine independent risk factors. Results: Among the 206 enrolled patients, 138 (66.99%) developed postoperative hypothermia. Univariate analysis showed that postoperative hypothermia after cardiac thoracotomy was significantly associated with disease diagnosis, cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) application, and operative duration (p < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression identified Stanford type A aortic dissection (OR = 2.147), use of cardiopulmonary bypass (OR = 1.988), and prolonged operative time (OR = 1.408) as independent risk factors for postoperative hypothermia (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Postoperative hypothermia in patients undergoing cardiac thoracotomy is closely related to Stanford type A aortic dissection, cardiopulmonary bypass, and prolonged operative duration. Clinicians should strengthen preoperative risk assessment for these high‑risk factors. Multi‑strategy collaborative thermal interventions for high‑risk patients can reinforce precise perioperative temperature management and improve surgical outcomes.

Keywords
Cardiac thoracotomy
Perioperative period
Postoperative hypothermia
Risk factors
Temperature management
References

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